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How-To Geek

Speakers with cones and drivers? That’s not mad scientist enough for you. The only kind of tunes you want to listen to are those generated by high voltage electrical arcs. This weekend build a set of plasma speakers and rock out like Nikola Telsa.

What are plasma speakers? Properly modulated electrical arcs can produce music rather than just the Telsa-coil like zapping you’d expect. The modulation changes the way the arc of electricity moves the air around it just like the vibration of a violin bow over a string can produce a pleasant or discordant sound. Watch the video above to see a plasma speaker in action–you may want to turn down your speakers at the beginning as they start the video with the unmodulated arc which is quite noisy.

Want to build a set to wow your neighbors (and risk blowing out their pace makers in the process)? Hit up the link below to read more.

Jason Fitzpatrick is a warranty-voiding DIYer who spends his days cracking opening cases and wrestling with code so you don't have to. If it can be modded, optimized, repurposed, or torn apart for fun he's interested (and probably already at the workbench taking it apart). You can follow him on Twitter if you'd like.